Never Again
by Midori Akiko
Summary: Korra is having second thoughts about dating Mako, and after moving away, she runs into Asami. But Asami is no longer that same city girl. Life has tried to break her. Korra tries to mend her, even though she didn't plan to. Korrasami. One shot, possible two.


_**Here's some angsty/romancy Korrasami. Timeline is supposed to be post-Book 1. Some slight Makorra in the beginning. This was originally going to be Rated M, but I toned it down. I usually do one-shots cause I don't have the dedication to write a novel, so if you want me to continue the story (aka you want smut), leave a review and I may post a separate story that follows up. **_

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_It didn't make sense._

Korra finally had everything she wanted. She had learned all four elements, she had restored Lin's bending, Amon and Hiroshi had been defeated…..and Mako had finally given her all of his heart.

But as she kissed him on the cliffside, something felt off. Her mind wasn't on the man in front of her, but on his ex-girlfriend, miles away.

She said she loved him. The words had flown freely from her mouth, and she was sure she meant them, but as she said them, she suddenly felt hollow, and the words seemed empty.

Now back at her home in The South Pole, Korra felt an awkwardness creep into her. Asami sat across of Korra and Mako, surrounding a fireplace for warmth. There were other people there, but for her, they were the only three that mattered.

Asami seemed to be coping well with the loss of her boyfriend and her father. Outwardly, nothing seemed amiss. Until Mako tried to put his arm around Korra. Korra saw Asami's eyes draw upward, comprehension dawning on her face.

Korra feigned getting an extra pillow, and Mako's arm fell on empty air. She stayed just past arm's length from him, and when she saw his raised eyebrows, Korra made a silent motion at Asami, who was looking at her feet once again, dejected. Mako huffed, but didn't say a word.

Sure, she was just doing it out of sensitivity for Asami, instead of parading his new girlfriend in front of his former one. But also, there was something in her that didn't want his arm around her. Why? She had spent months trying to woo him to her arms. Now he was here, and she didn't need him as badly as she thought.

Later that night, as they kissed, it was forced. Not on Mako's side; he believed he had the Avatar's heart all to him. But Korra no longer had the same fiery passion she did when she kissed him for the first time. The impulsiveness, the heat, the love was no longer there.

And two weeks later, she finally had the courage to say enough was enough. He didn't take it well, and why would he? She had said she loved him, and he loved her back. But it would be cruel on her part to put up with the charade any longer.

She decided that she would leave the South Pole for the time being, and take the chance to clear her head. Mako was going to return to Ba Sing Se; Bolin had an apartment and he was going to crash on his couch. Korra was going to return to Republic City, hoping that throwing herself into rebuilding the city would keep her mind off everything else.

She took the next barge headed for Republic City. Dropping onto the bed, she drifted off to sleep, finally glad to be free of prying eyes and gossiping neighbors.

When she awoke, it was night. She pulled on her heavy coat and boots, and made her way for the top deck. The cold salty air felt amazing; it felt like she was being cleansed of her problems. She strolled around the deck, in no real hurry, enjoying the clear night and complete lack of people. As she rounded the stern, she spotted a lone figure leaning against the railing.

She recognized the raven black hair with soft waves falling around her shoulders. She recognized the slender figure and the Future Industries logo. Korra raised her hand to say hi, but her mouth opened and closed like a fish. She should say hi, no question, and this girl was one of her most important friends, but she felt a strange awkwardness around her.

Asami sensed the motion behind her and slowly looked over her shoulder. Korra froze.

"Hi," she managed to get out, standing ramrod straight and her hand stuck in some sort of vertical salute.

Maybe it was because of the dim lighting, but it took a while before Asami said anything back. She squinted at Korra a bit, her eyebrows screwed together. For those few seconds, Korra had never felt so nervous.

Her mind whirred through hundred of reasons or scenarios as to why Asami would give her the cold shoulder like this.

"Korra."

Asami's face relaxed, as did Korra, who let out a small sigh of relief.

Asami glided over and pulled Korra into a hug.

"I've missed you." Korra felt something rise in her chest, and she hugged the older girl back.

They took a step back, and it was then Korra looked into Asami's eyes. They were empty. As dark and as blank as the ocean in front of them. There was no happiness, no joy, not even anger or sadness. Just empty. And Korra knew then how hard these past few weeks had been for Asami. She was drained from the people trying to blame her, from the people trying to talk to her, and from not having anyone to turn too. Korra put on a small smile, trying to avoid broaching the subject of Hiroshi. Asami brought it up anyway.

Korra found out Asami had been staying in the South Pole this whole time, too upset to move back home.

"I'm ashamed of what my father did," she said while avoiding Korra's eyes, "I didn't know if I could deal with living in the city that he had tried to destroy."

Asami hardly looked at Korra, often choosing to stare out at the black expanse of ocean. The last two weeks had taken their toll on her. Small lines had formed around her mouth and her posture was slouched.

"But I'm going back; I'm going to atone for my father's sins," she seemed to say more to herself than Korra. Shame flood through Korra. Where had she been? How could she not be there for her friend and instead let her fall alone? A friend should be there for you.

But then Asami asked how Korra's family was, and when she told Asami about her cousin's new daughter, Asami smiled. It wasn't a true smile though. It didn't reach her eyes, unable to break her lips . Korra had never known such sadness to be in one person. At that moment, all she wanted to do was erase every single bit of sadness in Asami. Let her be happy.

They stood in silence for a bit, and watched the sky meet the water. The curfew bell rang and they made their way towards their rooms. When the girls were about to part ways in the hall, Asami spoke up.

"Would you like to come to my room?" she asked. "I've got a fairly large suite, and I just don't want to be alone."

Korra considered it for a moment, then nodded. "I'm going to get my things and I'll be there."

When she arrived at Asami's door, she almost turned right around.

"What am I doing?" she questioned herself, but something told her she should be there and before she realized it, she had already knocked and the door was opening.

Asami let her in silently. She was barefoot and wearing a nightgown. Her hair was still down, as well as her demeanor. Asami guided Korra to a bed and she placed her things on top of it. She turned to look at her host. Her eyes were just so….desolate.

"I'm sorry," Korra blurted out. Asami's eyes widened a little, but she didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry," Korra continued, "for everything. For what I've done, for what your father did, for everything that happened to you." She didn't know why she was confessing like this, if only to try and lighten Asami's heart.

"It's not your-" Asami started to say, but Korra cut her off.

"I just don't want to see you sad anymore. I don't want to see you hurting. Things shouldn't be this way."

She took a step toward Asami, who remained silent. Their eyes met, azure versus emerald. Korra studied her. Her eyes, her cheeks, her nose, her lips. Those lips. She hadn't seen them smile in a long time. She put out her hand to touch them, placing her fingertips on Asami's lips. Asami flinched, but didn't pull away. Korra watched her eyes fall close.

She slid her fingers across Asami's lips towards her jaw, running her thumb against Asami's lower lip. Asami's lips parted slightly, her eyes still shut.

Korra pulled Asami's face gently towards her, and their lips met. The kiss was full of the warmth they'd both been missing. Their arms intertwined, and Asami ran her hands through Korra's hair.

Again and again their lips met, and as Korra moved her hands up Asami's body, she pulled their bodies closer together. Asami had finally seemed to come to life. Her hands were roaming all over Korra, through her hair, up her arms, down her back. And Korra seemed equally as excited to return the favor.

_It didn't make sense._

Korra was sure that something like this, kissing your friend, the ex of your ex, would have much more of an effect on her. Her thoughts should have be so numerous that she couldn't process them all. But instead, her mind was blank. There was nothing. No nervousness, no sadness, no shame. There was just the simple bliss of finally having the thing you've desired in your arms at last.

She was moving purely on instinct now, following Asami's lead, letting her body do what it pleased. How strange. Less than a year ago, she was convinced she didn't like this girl. Every time she was around Asami, she felt uncomfortable, like she wasn't good enough. Now she was doing things she'd never done before, willing to fall off into the unknown with her, simply because she felt like it.

Asami moved them to the bed, where Korra used a swift hand to knock her things off.

They finally broke contact when Asami fell back onto the mattress. Those few seconds of separation were apparently too much and Korra closed the distance once again, moving onto her jaw. She kissed her way to Asami's ear, taking time to suck on her earlobe. The smell of her was intoxicating.

She kissed the spot behind Asami's ear, and the Sato heir inhaled sharply.

"Never again," Korra whispered to Asami. The older girl responded silently, tilting her head until she was resting her temple against Korra's.

"Never again," she whispered again, and Asami finally answered.

"What?" she asked. Korra looked into Asami's eyes.

"Don't ever look at me with those eyes again. You can love me, laugh at me, hate me, curse me, but don't ever look at me with those eyes again." Korra couldn't stop her eyes from watering, even as she spoke.

"I promise, I will always be there for you. I will never let your life be empty ever again."

Asami's smile was the most beautiful sight.

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_**That's it for the Rated G portion of this tale. It's so mushy and squishy.**_


End file.
